Zip fastener chain for trouser flies

ABSTRACT

A zip fastener chain of continuous length and a method for attaching the same onto a trouser fly or the like are disclosed. An improvement is shown in the form and construction of a fastener whereby a slider is efficiently mounted, which improvement includes the provision of a recess or notch extending laterally of one of two fastener tapes for permitting entry for the shoulder of the slider.

United States Patent 1191 Kawakami 14 1 Nov. 5, 1974 ZIP FASTENER CHAIN FOR TROUSER FLIES [75] Inventor:

[73] Assignee: Yoshida Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha,

Tokyo, Japan [22] Filed: July 10, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 270,196

Koichi Kawakami, Toyama, Japan [30] Foreign Application Priority Data July 15, 1971 Japan 46-62200 [52] US. Cl. 24/205 R, 24/205.ll R [51] Int. Cl A441) 19/00 [58] Field of Search 24/205, 205.11 F

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,129,498 4/1964 Runnels 24/205 R 3.340579 9/1967 Tamuru 24 205 R 3,533,140 10/1970 Waldes 24 205 R FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 42-39902 6/1967 Japan 24/20511 F Primary Examiner-Bernard A. Gelak Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Robert E. Burns; Emmanuel J. Lobato; Bruce L. Adams [57] ABSTRACT A zip fastener chain of continuous length and a method for attaching the same onto a trouser fly or the like are disclosed. An improvement is shown in the form and construction of a fastener whereby a slider is efficiently mounted, which improvement includes the provision of a recess or notch extending laterally of one of two fastener tapes for permitting entry for the shoulder of the slider.

1 Claim, 7 Drawing Figures PATENTEDW 519111 I FIG.3

FIG.'I

ZIP FASTENER CHAIN FOR TROUSER FLIES This invention relates to a zip fastener chain of continuous length and has particular reference to a zip fastener chain suitable for attachment to a trouser fly. The invention further includes a method for assembling and attaching a zip fastener chain on and to trouser fly units in continuous manner.

In the attachment of zip fasteners onto trouser flies, it has been the usual practice to pass through a sewing machine a continuous chain of closed zip fasteners thereby sewing the same progressively to the respective trouser fly strips by a longitudinal line of stitches; remove fastener elements off their support stringers to provide element-free space portions at predetermined intervals; cut the fastener chain to desired length across the space portions thereof; and mount sliders on individual fasteners by threading them through the said space portions which are devoid of fastener elements. According to this prior-art practice, the space portions of the fastener are provided by means of punching to remove not only certain numbers of individual coupling elements in arow but also part of fabric constituting a stringer tape. This results in frayed yarns of the tape liable to get caught by the slider, rendering it difflcult to thread through the fastener. To'make slider threading further tedious and time-consuming, if not completely difficult, is the absence of a rigid material such as coupling elements to serve as a slider guide at the slider threading space portion of the fastener.

Thus, the element-free space portion if not satisfactorily formed will adversely affect the slider mounting operation, the coupling of the fastener stringers in correct registry and the finish of the fastener as applied to a trouser fly.

It is the primary object of this invention to provide a zip fastener chain suitable for application to trouser flies and free from the above-noted difficulties encountered in the prior practice.

It is another object of the invention to provide a method for assembling and attaching a zip fastener chain on and totrouser flies in continuous, efficient manner.

These objects and other features of the invention will be apparent from'the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which like reference numerals refer to like and corresponding parts and in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a segment of a zip fastener chain embodying the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the zip fastener chain of FIG. 1 as sewn onto a trouser fly strip;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a single separated fastener chain with a slider mounted thereon;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view on enlarged scale of a fastener segment, showing a slider as being threaded therethrogh;

tapes, each of said elements having a coupling head, arms extending therefrom and a base portion connecting between adjacent arms, a base portion both of said stringer tapes being provided at predetermined intervals with a slider threading region including fastener elements devoid of said coupling heads, and said slider threading region on one of said stringer tapes having a recess extending laterally thereof and slightly beyond said base portion of said element.

Referring now to the drawings and to FIG. 1 in particular, there is shown a zip fastener chain 10 of continuous length which comprises a pair of opposed stringer tapes 11, 12 having mounted along their respective longitudinal edges rows of inter-engaging fastener elements 13. As better seen in FIG. 4, each element 13 has a coupling head 14, arms 15 extending therefrom and merging into adjacent elements and a base portion 16.

In accordance with the invention, the fastener chain 10 is provided with slider threading regions 17 at predetermined intervals along therows of elements 13. The slider threading regions orportions 17 of the chain l0'are provided by removing the coupling'heads 14 from a predetermined number of elements 13, with corresponding arms 15 retained in position on the fastener chain 10. These residual arms 15' will serve as a guide for a slider S when threading the same through the rows of elements 13. Importantly, there is provided a recess or notch 18 formed in the residual arms 15 on one of the two stringer tapes 11, 12 and extending laterally of the chain .10 slightly beyond the base portion 16 of the element 13, as shown. This recess or notch 18 provides entry for the shoulder of the slider S and thus facilitates the threading thereof through the chain 10, where the residual arms 15 of the elements 13 devoid of coupling heads 14 function as guide rails along which the slider S are smoothly moved into operative position on the rows of inter-engaging elements 13.

The manner in which the slider S is thus mounted on the fastener chain 10 is illustratedin FIGS. 6 and 7, from which it is seen that the slider S is first threaded through the notch 18 in the residual arms 15 onthe left-hand stringer 11 and then through the residual arms 15' on the other or right-hand stringer 12. Designated at 19 is an end stop clamped close at the upper terminal end of the slider threading region 17 for limiting the movement of the slider S.

The fastener chain 10 of this construction is shown as applied to a trouser fly F according to the invention. The fastener chain 10 having stringers 11, 12 coupled together in closed disposition is sewn onto a trouser fly strip F by a longitudinal line of stitches 20 in the usual manner and there-after provided with a sliderthreading region 17 as above described. The chain 10 thus sewn is cut to desired length closely across the lower terminal end of the slider threading region 17 as shown in FIG. 2. The slider is now threaded at one shoulder thereof through the notch 18 on one stringer 11 and along the residual arms 15' of the elements 13 as shown in FIG. 3 (FIG. 6).

The slider S is further threaded at the other shoulder thereof through and along the residual arms 15 on the other stringer 12 followed by aligning the two stringers ll, 12 in registered parallel position. The slider S is then moved into operative position on the rows of inter-engaging elements 13 as shown in FIG. 7.

The above described procedure for assembling and attaching a zip fastener chain on and to a trouser fly is repeated in succession with speed far greater than achieved by the prior-art practice.

Having thus described the invention, it will be understood that various changes and modifications may be made in the specific form and construction illustrated, without departing from the scope of the appended claims. As for an example, the form of the notch 18 in the slider threading region 17 may be rectangular as shown in FIG. 5.

What is claimed is:

1. A slide fastener chain for attachment to a trouser fly or the like comprising a pair of opposed stringer tapes of continuous length and a pair of rows of intersaid stringer tapes having a recess in the longitudinal edge thereof and extending in a transverse direction thereof and slightly beyond said base portion of said element. 

1. A slide fastener chain for attachment to a trouser fly or the like comprising a pair of opposed stringer tapes of continuous length and a pair of rows of inter-engaging fastener elements mounted along a pair of adjacent corresponding longitudinal edges of said stringer tapes, each of said elements having a coupling head, arms extending therefrom and a base portion connecting between adjacent arms, both of said stringer tapes having at predetermined intervals a slider threading region including fastener elements devoid of said coupling heads, and said slider threading region on one of said stringer tapes having a recess in the longitudinal edge thereof and extending in a transverse direction thereof and slightly beyond said base portion of said element. 